FREDERICTON — New Brunswick's new Liberal finance minister is projecting a deficit of $92.1 million for the current fiscal year, a reversal from the $40.9-million surplus budgeted last spring by the previous Progressive Conservative government.
René Legacy's second quarter update released Friday shows a worsening situation since the last update in August, which pegged the deficit at $27.6 million. The province's net debt is projected to be $12.2 billion.
Legacy said that as of the end of September, total revenue this year is projected to be $118.8 million higher than budgeted thanks to an increase in conditional grants from the federal government and gains in both personal and corporate income tax.
However total expenses are projected to be over budget by $251.8 million, with the most significant spending coming from the Health Department — which is over budget by $193 million — mainly because of contracts with private firms to provide temporary nurses, also known as travel nurses.
"The previous government had a plan. They put it in last year with their budget. The plan was to have a $40-million surplus. There's a lot of events or occasions that have caused it to not happen," Legacy told reporters. "So I'm asking my staff if there's any course correction that we can take to maybe bring that down."
In June, the province's auditor general reported that francophone health authority Vitalité paid more than $123 million for travel nurses between Jan. 1, 2022 and Feb. 29 this year. Of that sum, $98 million went to Ontario-based Canadian Health Labs, whose contract with Vitalité is not set to expire until February 2026.
Legacy said he now has to look for ways to shrink the deficit and he said he will send to "a strong message" to examine their spending.
"There is opportunity for us to reach out to the departments and try to curtail some of the proposed spending, but because we’re in the eighth month of the fiscal year, we’re starting to be limited on what we can do on that," he said.
The Progressive Conservatives' interim leader said the numbers do not come as a surprise in light of soaring health-care costs. "The Opposition will be watching to see what new charges the Liberal government applies to the fourth quarter numbers," Glen Savoie said.
Green Party finance critic Megan Mitton said there may need to be deficit spending initially in order to get the health-care crisis under control.
"Investing in preventive health care now means better health outcomes that will cost the system less later, and so the balanced budget should not come at any cost," she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.
Hina Alam, The Canadian Press